by Erik Baard Cross-dressers are more often straight than gay, but there’s something irresistibly amusing about the fact that our language paired the words “garter” and “snake” for a species later discovered to be promiscuously homosexual in drag. Well, at least chemically in drag. Male garter snakes (which live [...]
Archive for June, 2008
Homosexual Garter Snakes: So Not “Gay”
Posted in Bronx, Brooklyn, Fresh Water, Manhattan, Parks, Ponds, Queens, Reptiles, Snakes, Spring, Staten Island, tagged against nature, animals, erik baard, garter, gay, gay pride, homosexual, homosexuality, last chance pond, mating, naturecalendar, new york city, pheromones, Snakes, species, university of oregon, university of oslo, urban ecology, urban environment on June 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Trapped on Jelly World?
Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Bronx, Brooklyn, Crustaceans, Estuary, Fish, Invertebrates, Long Island Sound, Manhattan, New York Harbor, Queens, Recreation, Staten Island, Summer, Uncategorized, volunteer, tagged arthritis, carlos suarez, climate change, cnidaria, collagen, dianne saenz, east river, erik baard, florida state university, global warming, gotham strait, hsieh, jelly fish, jellyfish, mayor's volunteer center, nature calendar, naturecalendar, new york city, oceana, peggy, rheumatoid, stephen jay gould, urban ecology, urban environment, vegan, veganism, wren longno, zooplankton on June 26, 2008 | 2 Comments »
by Erik Baard The Long Island City Community Boathouse hosted a “brunch paddle” from Anable Cove in Hunters Point down to “Dumbo Cove” in Brooklyn Bridge Park. On the way, one participant was surprised, and then reassuringly centered, by a simple encounter: “Nature sightings started before we even left off when Dan [...]
Light, then Heat.
Posted in Astronomy, Atlantic Ocean, Bronx, Brooklyn, clouds, Estuary, Fall, Geology, Manhattan, New York Harbor, Queens, Spring, Staten Island, Summer, Uncategorized, Water, Weather, Winter, tagged Astronomy, atmosphere, chaos theory, complexity theory, david grinspoon, denver museum, dog days, erik baard, funky science, heat, heat wave, isothermic, Joe Rao, nature, nature calendar, naturecalendar, new york city, new york times, science, solstice, Summer, sunlight, urban ecology, urban environment, urban heat, USA Today, venus on June 24, 2008 | 1 Comment »
by Erik Baard A kid waiting to kayak at the Clearwater Festival last Solstice weekend asked me, “If this is the longest day of the year, then why isn’t it the hottest?” It’s a logical question, and I guess a common one. The incomparable Joe Rao addressed it in his New York [...]
WildWire: June 21-25
Posted in Astronomy, Atlantic Ocean, Birds, Bronx, Brooklyn, butterflies, Crustaceans, Estuary, Fish, Flowers, Fresh Water, Gardens, Geology, Grasses, Insects, Invertebrates, Lakes, Long Island Sound, Mammals, Manhattan, New York Harbor, Parks, Plants, Ponds, Queens, Recreation, Reptiles, Staten Island, Streams, Summer, Trees, volunteer, Water, wildwire, tagged audubon, bike new tork, biking, blue heron park, Bronx, bronx river alliance, Brooklyn, butterflies, canoe, canoeing, Central Park, clearwater festival, conservancy, Downtown Boathouse, east river, edible, erik baard, foraging, fort tryon, gowanus, hiking, hudson river, inwood, just foods, kayaking, lic, long island city, Manhattan, marine park, mike feller, nature calendar, naturecalendar, new york restoration, nyrp, orchard beach, peter tagatac, Prospect Park, Queens, queens botanical, recycle-a-bicycle, Rocking the Boat, salt marsh, sebago, socrates sculpture park, Staten Island, sustainable south bronx, topofthelawn, totten, urban park rangers, van cortlandt, walking, wave hill, wildflowers, wildman steve brill, wildwire on June 20, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Happy Solstice! Summer is here, and life is booming. Make sure you head down to Jamaica Bay to see cacti, horseshoe crabs, and diamondback terrapin turtles! Or get lost in a world of wildflowers and butterflies in Pelham Bay Park. As for the loveliness above…never again will you speak ill of Staten Island without feeling [...]
WildEyed: Manhattan’s Mysterious Black Skimmer
Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Birds, Brooklyn, Crustaceans, Estuary, Fish, Fresh Water, Manhattan, New York Harbor, Parks, Ponds, Queens, Recreation, Summer, Uncategorized, Vertebrates, wild eyed, tagged amateur astronomers association, american museum of natural history, amnh, Birds, black, black skimmer, brad klein, bradley, cal vornberger, Central Park, central park in the dark, conservatory water, cornell, erik baard, gull, Manhattan, marie winn, nature calendar, naturecalendar, new york bat group, rockaways, skimmers, tern, tom mcintyre, turtle pond, urban ecology, urban environment on June 19, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Editor’s note: Sorry for neglecting Nature Calendar a bit this week. My grandmother died on Saturday so I was shuttling back and forth for the wake and funeral, while also trying to find ways to financially support myself. And now back to what’s up in our urban wilderness community! by Erik Baard [...]
Clearwater Festival on Randalls Island?
Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Bronx, Estuary, Fish, Manhattan, New York Harbor, Parks, Queens, Recreation, Summer, Trees, Uncategorized, volunteer, Water, tagged 1972, clean water act, clearwater, community boathouse, council, croton point park, department of environmental conservation, erik baard, Estuary, festival, friends of brook park, hudson river, lic, natural resources defense, pcb, pete seeger, rachel carson, randalls island, silent spring, sloop, sustainable south bronx, urban ecology, urban environment, westchester on June 16, 2008 | 1 Comment »
by Erik Baard I’m excitedly anticipating my chance to step sideways into a greener parallel culture this weekend with the Clearwater Festival, and I hope you can join in. I say “sideways” because while many green gatherings in NYC are slick and smart previews of possible sustainable futures, this “Great Hudson [...]
Mark Kurlansky on “The Big Oyster”
Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Estuary, Fish, Geology, Invertebrates, Long Island Sound, Manhattan, New York Harbor, Parks, Ponds, Queens, Recreation, Staten Island, tagged african american, american indian, baykeeper, book, canal street, colonial, dutch, Estuary, history, interview, mark kurlansky, middens, native american, new york city, New York Harbor, nick schultz, oysters, pearl street, rockaways, Staten Island, TCS daily, the river project, urban ecology, urban environment on June 13, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Forgive us if we go a little oyster crazy ahead of the Tuesday, June 17 event at Pier 40 to celebrate this species with The River Project and NY-NJ Baykeeper. Below is a fun and informative interview with acclaimed author Mark Kurlansky about his New York Harbor-centered book, The Big Oyster: History on the [...]
WildWire: June 13-June 18
Posted in Astronomy, Atlantic Ocean, Birds, Bronx, Brooklyn, butterflies, Crustaceans, Edible Plants, Estuary, Fish, Flowers, Fresh Water, Gardens, Geology, Grasses, Insects, Invertebrates, Lakes, Long Island Sound, Manhattan, New York Harbor, Parks, Plants, Ponds, Queens, Recreation, Spring, Staten Island, Streams, Summer, Trees, Uncategorized, Vertebrates, volunteer, Water, wildwire, tagged adventures nyc, amateur, Astronomy, audubon, backpacker magazine, battery park city, bike new york, Birds, blue heron, boathouse, bronx river, Brooklyn, butterfly, canoe, Central Park, conservancy, critical mass, department of parks and recreation, Downtown Boathouse, east river, erik baard, floyd bennet field, forest park, fort tryon, fort washington, gantry neighborhood parks, great kills, greenpoint, hudson river, inwood hill, inwood hill park, jane bailey, kayak, kayaking, kissena park, lic, mulberry, National Parks Service, nature calendar, nature center, Nature Network, naturecalendar, new york city, new york restoration project, nyrp, park, pelham bay, Prospect Park, river project, Rocking the Boat, salt marsh, sebago, time's up!, Trees, urban ecology, urban environment, urban park rangers, van cortlandt, volunteer, wagner park, wave hill, willowbrook on June 13, 2008 | 1 Comment »
(Click to enlarge.) Oh, the burden of choice! With a hyper-fun suite of Adventures NYC events sponsored by Backpacker Magazine adding to our usually full menu of eco-recreation, you may find your head spinning a bit! As always, FREE is the rule and we have a mix of family-friendly events and adult [...]
“If Manhattan Was Schist, it Wouldn’t Be Gneiss”
Posted in Bronx, Geology, Manhattan, wildwire, tagged american museum of natural history, amnh, bedrock, Bronx, fort tryon, Geology, gneiss, horenstein, new york city, new york city department of parks, Parks, Recreation, schist, urban ecology, urban environment, wildwire on June 12, 2008 | 1 Comment »
We’ve had some frustrating wifi problems and wanderings today and last night in trying to get this week’s WildWire posted, so please forgive the delay in alerting you to this great walking tour: Sidney Horenstein’s If Manhattan Was Schist, It Wouldn’t Be Gneiss Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Manhattan [...]
